Who is Nino Baglieri?
He was a young man like many others. He had decided not to continue his studies and had immersed himself in work. At the age of 17, he had an accident: he fell from a 17-meter-high scaffold - "One meter per year", he used to say - and remained quadriplegic: so for 10 years, the years of youth, he rebels against God, that God whom he believed had punished him.
How did Nino live his life?
Nino is a clear emblem that the life of the saints is a human experience, and is affected by all the characteristics of humanity. Initially he was not happy. He felt the pain and weight of his condition.
I remember once that with the other CDBs we were in his room for the monthly retreat and his brother-in-law came to change him. I was about to leave, but Nino told me to stay. And while his brother-in-law raised this helpless body, for a moment I had the impression of seeing Christ ready for the crucifixion! He had a deep sore on his back. He said a fist could enter it.
But a few minutes later, there in his bed, he was smiling again, ready to console the others.
An experience that we have done in so many was to go and visit him thinking of keeping him company, comforting him and caring for him, but then we went out reconciled, rejoiced, ready to savor life even better.
What is the message that Nino Baglieri leaves?
Today we live in an age that does not always have respect for life. Nino, on the other hand, is a hymn to the value of life, at any time and in any situation he finds himself.
And the other message is that discovering God and bringing Him into our existence has a disruptive effect on our life.
